


Double Dates to Monet's

by Newtdew25



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV), Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But With Coffee, Canon Gay Character, Coffee Shops, Competition, Drinking Games, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Mild Sexual Content, silly bets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 08:38:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newtdew25/pseuds/Newtdew25
Summary: “Is that a fucking blowtorch?”“Justin, your hand’s an inch away from my crotch right now.”“Jensen, I don’t care that your boyfriend’s right there. If you manage to injure yourself again, I’ll personally wrap your clumsy ass in bubble wrap.”When Justin and Tony are embroiled in a bet, Alex and Clay decide to settle things with coffee, milkshakes, other selections from the menu of Monet's, and a blowtorch.





	Double Dates to Monet's

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I made this canon divergent so that it does acknowledge the majority of the events of Thirteen Reasons Why (mainly the existence of the tapes), but the fic is set in a much happier, if less realistic version of the town after the main plot. Without any spoilers being given away, it's safe to say that some of the major points from the later half of the Netflix version do not feature in this fic. Do with that information what you will.

 

“Jensen, I don’t care that your boyfriend’s right there. If you manage to injure yourself _again_ , I’ll personally wrap your clumsy ass in bubble wrap.”

            Clay wasn’t sure what made him more flustered, the deadly serious look in Justin’s eyes or the fact that Tony actually nodded in agreement. “Justin’s right, Clay. When you hit your knee off of his chair, I’m surprised you didn’t fall on him.” The entirety of Monet’s was staring at the four of them, and Clay looked away before he drew any more attention to himself.

            “Now,” Alex began once they’d settled down. “The rules of this bet are pretty clear. Clay and I will bring you two random drinks from the menu, which you’ll be expected to finish as quickly as possible. First person to win three out of five rounds has their gas paid for by the loser for the next two weeks. Got it?” Despite not competing, Clay found himself nodding as well. The only reason that the bet was even possible was because he’d called in a favour from Skye. If it wasn’t for her employee discount, the ten drinks would have proven too expensive for him and Alex to pay for on their own.

            Justin had reoriented his chair so that he was sitting squarely in front of the table, his elbows resting on the surface. As with most things, he was never one to let himself be beat, especially by Tony “I know that you lied about listening to all the tapes already” Padilla; Alex would never let him hear the end of it.

            _“There’s a few ways I could shut him up though,”_ Justin thought to himself ruefully, a smile growing on his face as his attention was drawn to his boyfriend clearing his throat. “To start things off, this one’s called the Nutcracker Sweet,” Alex explained as he and Clay set down two Irish coffee glasses filled with a frothy brown liquid. “It’s hot chocolate with peppermint, whipped cream, almond milk, and nuts.” Tony knew for a fact that this round was his; Justin couldn’t stand the taste of peppermints. Gripping the glass in his hands, he raised it to his rival in a mock salute before bringing it to his lips.  “Cheers, Foley.”

            With a grimace, Justin closed his eyes and did his best to choke down the drink. If he focused solely on the hot chocolate and nuts, he could almost forget that there were bits of peppermint mixed in as well. Even with the small size of the glass, Justin felt like he’d been drinking out of an industrial vat. The moment he put it down, he opened his eyes, only to be met with a mischievous smirk from his opponent. “Took you long enough, Justin,” Tony curtly pointed out. “The peppermint really brought it all together, don’t you think?”

            “Go fuck yourself,” he muttered under his breath as Alex left the table to get the next round of drinks.  Tony laughed, obviously having heard him. “Nah, I’ve got Clay for a reason.” At this, Clay nearly spit out the water he’d been drinking, his face quickly going red. “Although he and I switch it up from time to time, don’t we, babe?”

            Alex, rolling his eyes from what he’d heard, put forward two reddish-pink milkshakes as he took his own seat. “Anyways, these are Ruby Slippers, and-”

            “Jesus, that name is gay.”

            “Justin, your hand’s an inch away from my crotch right now.”

            Tony and Clay shared a look of mutual confusion, then resignation as the latter finished off Alex’s sentence. “So, uh, Ruby Slippers. It’s basically a strawberry milkshake with cherries and some raspberry sauce on top.” Justin looked over the drinks curiously. “They didn’t look like this when Zach tried to buy them,” he mumbled, catching Clay’s confused look. “He was stoned out of his mind, so he forgot about his allergies.”

            “Speaking of Zach,” Alex piped up as he looked up from his phone. “He’s put ten bucks on you right now.” Tony shook his head as he picked up his glass. “So what’s it now, Alex?”

            “Let’s see… Zach, Marcus, and Jessica all have ten bucks on Justin, but Courtney, Monty, and Brad all have the same on Tony. Wait, Ryan just bet five on Tony as well,” Alex announced before putting his phone away. “Now get to it, before I call them in to watch for themselves.” Once Clay started his timer, Justin pulled out the straw in lieu of drinking straight out of the glass. To him, it was little more than a cold, sugary protein shake, and he chugged it down with ease. On the contrary, Tony quickly got a brain freeze and resorted to Justin’s means of drinking. The glare on his face as he wiped his mouth off with a napkin only made Justin grin wider.

            Clay wasted no time in bringing the two boys their next challenge. “Skye came up with this herself,” he beamed as he set down two coffee cups. “Calls it the Hive Mind. There’s coffee, cinnamon, steamed milk, and honey.”

            “Who the hell puts honey in coffee?”

            “I do, Standall, and it’s delicious,” Skye called out from behind the counter. “Tell me what your boyfriend thinks of it!” Justin raised the cup to his mouth, but nearly spilled it when Alex smacked his head. “How about you wait until both of you are ready, huh?” He looked over at Tony, who was posing with his cup as Clay took a picture of him. Once Clay stepped back, both boys began their third round of drinking.

Tony, still distracted by the impromptu photo session, almost burned his tongue on the coffee. In a reverse of tactics, Justin took his time with the new drink, even taking a moment to stick his tongue out childishly at Tony. Clay seemed more offended though, and did the same back to him. Alex couldn’t help but shake his head at the two of them. “What are you, in second grade?”

“Well, that’d make us cradle robbers, wouldn’t it, Alex?”

“Tony, for the love of God, just finish the drink; you’re already down two-one!”

“Seems like your boyfriend’s worried, Padilla,” Alex coolly answered. “I’m sure you’ll find some way to pay for me and Justin’s gas though.” Clay, seemingly at a loss for words, stormed off to the counter. From what the three of them could see, Skye was confused about what he was asking for. After pointing to something behind the counter, Clay began nodding quickly. “Hold on,” Alex said as he stepped out to get a better look. “Is that a fucking blowtorch?”

            “Oh, it’s for crème _brulée_!” Tony realized, much to the shock of the other two. “What? I paid attention in Food and Nutrition.” He might not have the best marks at Liberty High, but it was near impossible to fall asleep when all he could smell was food.

            The two cups that Clay set before Justin and Tony certainly looked more like desserts in the wrong dishes than actual drinks. “The Baylor Brul _é_ e,” he happily announced. “A latte with steamed milk, vanilla, and brown sugar.” Justin could only stare blankly at the cup. “Okay, Jensen, but where’s the latte?” In his confusion, he just barely missed Tony spooning the crème brul _ée into his mouth before downing the contents of the cup in one go. While Justin followed suit, he couldn’t catch up to Tony, leaving their scores at two apiece._

            Alex, who had been preoccupied with his medication during that time, was nothing if not frustrated with this new development. “Fuck it, I know what we’re ending this with.” He stood up in a huff, leaving Clay staring at Tony and Justin. “Was it something that I did?”

            “You kind of tipped it in my favour, Clay.”

            “Well, uh… Alex would have done the same for Justin!”

            “Nah, he’d probably spike mine with peppermints again just to spite me.”

            From where Clay was sitting, he watched as Justin and Tony grew visibly unnerved. After checking to see if there was something on his face, he turned around, only to be met with a wickedly grinning Alex holding two white, steaming mugs. It was a wonder that he didn’t fall out of his chair.

            Placing the mugs down, Alex calmly went over to his chair, the grin on his face all the while. “Go on, try it,” he drawled. “I won’t say anything until you do.” From the way Justin leaned in to smell it, there probably wasn’t any peppermint in the drink. Still, Tony used much more caution as he took a tiny sip from the mug. “It’s just a mocha latte,” Alex finally explained. “With chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, some milk, and-”

            “What the hell did you do to it, Standall?”

            “-Cayenne pepper; altogether, I call it the Firework,” Alex finished, just barely restraining his laughter at Tony and Justin’s twisted faces. The initially frantic competition had temporarily slowed to a crawl as both competitors took a moment to process the fact that one’s boyfriend just put fucking _peppers_ in their drinks. As far as Justin was concerned, that just wasn’t supposed to happen with food. _“Maybe I should have paid more attention in Food and Nutrition.”_

            The shock quickly wore off, culminating in Tony and Justin chugging steaming hot mocha lattes while childishly shoving their hands in the other’s face. Clay thanked whatever deity was watching over them at the moment that nothing got on their clothes, because he knew full well that there would have been a bloodbath if Tony’s leather jacket or Justin’s letterman one got ruined.

            “So, uh… Who won?” he asked after both mugs were slammed down on the table. Since Tony and Justin were busy catching their breaths and wiping their mouths, Clay looked to Alex, who could only shrug in reply. “It’s not like I was timing it exactly, so…”

            “We’ll settle this the way real men do it,” Justin interrupted. “Modern Warfare 2. Rust. Knives only. Commando Pro.”

            “You’re on,” Tony challenged back as he sprang up from his seat. “Clay’s got it over at his house anyways. You might as well pay up right now!”

            As both boys cackled and ran for their cars, Clay was left sitting with Alex at the table, ten different glasses and cups scattered on its surface. “So Jensen, after we clean this up,” Alex asked. “Would you mind giving me a ride on your bike? I’d like to watch our respective boyfriends scream at each other and at your TV.”

            Clay could only shrug as he reached for his helmet hanging off the chair. “Just hold on, alright? I’ve got a terrible track record with biking on my own already.”

///

            Later that night, there may or may not be four teenaged boys snoring in the basement of the Jensen household with an old PS3 still on. There may or may not be a scar on the arm of a boy with bleach blond hair from a stray tree branch. However, there were certainly four sets of content smiles, no doubt caused by a day spent away from the usual turmoil that plagued their lives. With lives like these, that would be enough for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos, and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Also, please avoid spoilers in the comments below for anyone who is not entirely caught up.


End file.
